Mr Watson admitted "it sometimes feels like people have been calling for me to stand down from day one", but added that he never saw it happening "for standing up for people who are facing prejudice and hate".

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Video:Watson: Labour faces 'eternal shame' over anti-Semitism

On Saturday, he warned the party will "disappear into a vortex of eternal shame and embarrassment" unless it resolves its difficulties over anti-Semitism.

He told The Observer that Labour should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism in full - something Mr Corbyn is still refusing to do.